What exercises helped you break through stiff gesture drawings in short poses?

[LarryEM]

I'm trying to improve my figure drawing skills and have been practicing gesture drawing every day for the past month. I'm using online timed sessions, usually 30 seconds to two minutes per pose, but my sketches still look stiff and inaccurate. I understand the concept of capturing the action line and rhythm, but my lines are hesitant and I get caught up in details too quickly. Are there specific exercises or resources that helped you make a breakthrough with gesture drawing? Should I be focusing more on the silhouette, the negative space, or something else entirely to make my figures feel more dynamic and alive? I'm feeling a bit stuck.

[JoshuaW]

From my own practice the trick was to let gesture be the target not a finished figure I did 10 x 30 second poses daily and then moved to 60 seconds to build flow and loosen the wrist

[James_D]

Also pay attention to rhythm not just shape I notice beginners chase accuracy and miss the life in the movement try focusing on a single line that reads the spine and hip line before detailing

[ElizabethW]

Im not sure if you should fix one thing first silhouette or line I tend to rotate through two drills each week and compare which feels more alive in the next session

[Luke.M]

Maybe drop the urge to add details early and let the pose speak its own language use chunky lines and big shapes then taper later you will see more life in the pose

[Aubrey9]

Try a slow warm up that uses only negative space around the figure you will learn how much breath room the body has and your edges will improve as you go back to full pose